1. COMMUNICATION My first use of the internet was BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems). When I moved to Holland in 1987 there was a left over phone node from the defunct General Electric factory that connected to the Web. I immediately began telnetting and subscribing to what were called listserves.

Since then, I have developed a reliance on the tech to keep me in contact with the people I care about and am interested in. I have web cammed with grand kids in California, adult children in the U.K. & China.  I use online chat, Facebook and Skype regularly.

2. LIBRARIES This is one of the most amazing things to me: connecting with libraries online. Then searching their catalog and catalogs of libraries they subscribe to. Then ordering the materials.

3. INFORMATION This morning I was reading some letters to the editor in the New York Times online and googled a couple of the writers. I was able to learn enough about them to understand their perspective a bit (One guy was a registered Republican and the other worked for Walter Cronkite for a while).

Yesterday I learned online of the death of two people I am interested in: Paul Manz the respected church musician and organist and Claude Levi-Strauss the influential anthropologist. I chatted back and forth on Facebook with a church musician that I have never met face to face but have connected with for several years online. We discussed Manz. Later I pulled out my copy of Levi-Strauss’s interesting work, “Looking, Listening an Reading.” While reading the first section of this book, I pulled up web sites with copies of paintings he referred to and decided I wasn’t exactly sure what the phrase “trompe l’oiel meant so I looked it up online (it means “trick the eye.)

Checking information online is a huge asset. Of course one has to keep one’s crap detector on full alert. (Howard Gardiner’s term)

4. A ZILLION INSTANT RESOURCES I regularly look to the Internet for actual copies of music both historical/classical and popular. There is a ton of copyright free historical music out there thanks to IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project). And there are places to download sheet music for reasonable fees. Recently I had a wedding reception gig for which I had requests for tunes I didn’t know or have access to. I combined a trip to the local library in person to browse with some online purchases of music (Alicia Keyes and Elton John).

I also have taken to using Amazon’s mp3 downloads. This week I was working on some Saint -Saens and a unfamiliar Bach violin sonata. I was able to download MP3s of the movements I was interested for .99 each in seconds. Not bad.

I also regularly purchase copies of books online, preferably used but not necessarily. I also belong to a Book Exchange online. This is an organization of readers who trade books through the mail. (Link: Paperbackswap) And I download free copies of books to my netbook to read. I use http://manybooks.net/ but there are others.

I bookmark articles and web sites I look at  right online so I can access them from any computer. I use Diigo but there are other ways to this.  I also follow several hundred people on Twitter from my computer. This enables me to find interesting information and people online.

I also do my banking online.  I’m sure I have forgotten ways that I regularly use the internet. But it amazes me everyday.